New Year, New Diet? Make a Real Resolution Instead

"Lose Weight" isn't usually a productive New Year's resolution. (Shutterstock)

(Newser)
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It's that wondrous time of the year when lots of us embark on that annual exercise in futility known as the New Year's resolution to drop a couple of pounds. But there are plenty of different, more achievable goals that can have you feeling better next year—and perhaps you'll shed a few pounds along the way. Some of CNN's recommendations:

Spend some time outside. It can help clear your mind, and you may get some extra exercise to boot. So try parking further from your destination, taking a brief walk at lunch, or jogging for 15 minutes in the morning, health experts tell Jacque Wilson.

Leave the screens behind once in a while, whether they're on your iPad or TV. For kids, too much screen time boosts obesity risk and makes it harder to sleep, focus, and relax. Adults may have similar issues.

Try adding something to your diet instead of worrying about taking things away. Put vegetables in your snacks or drink more water and "you'll find over time that these additions will leave no room for unhealthy habits," Wilson writes.

Cut down on the multitasking: Stop, for instance, watching TV while eating. The goal is mindfulness, or a "state of active, open attention on the present." It may actually help you lose weight.

Pick a single word that sums up "how you want to feel instead of what you think you should do or accomplish," says trainer Shay Kostabi. Last year, she focused on "clarity," and the year before, "authenticity." "Your theme will guide you in aligning actions, behavior, goal-setting, and even how to make the best use of your free time."

Weigh yourself on a scale. Then, go into a forest, and, using hand tools, build a cabin using lumber hewn from the trees. While doing this, hunt your own food and chop your own firewood. Tan your own leather to make clothes. Make your own furniture. Live there for one year. Then go back and weigh yourself again. You won't care what it says.